KnightTime
by turbomagnus
Summary: Knightfall AU. Bane has broken the Batman's back leaving Bruce Wayne unable to continue as the Dark Knight, but in his and Gotham's hour of need, a new crimefighter appears to carry on and Darkness gives way... to Tomorrow.


Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. Whether or not that goal can be reached, we'll see... This is The 365 Project, 30 January.

I mentioned that my earlier piece with Terry and the Justice League was connected to an upcoming story project, right? Right. Well, consider this the first part of that story...

Disclaimer: Batman, Batman Beyond, and the KnightFall storyline all belong to DC, I'm just playing with their characters for personal amusement and no profit... Considering that it's a DCAU and DC Comics crossover, definately non-canon... well, at least until the next Crisis depending on what it brings... Despite not being from the DCAU or Comics, Xenothium is borrow from the animated Teen Titans series and is also used without permission.

* * *

"KnightTime"  
'Sands of the Hourglass'  
By J.T. Magnus, "Turbo"

* * *

Terry McGinnis groaned and put his head in his hand as he tried to go over what had just happened. ignoring the fact that the Batmobile was upside down on the ground and he was hanging there suspended by his harness.

"Cronan..."

Horace Cronan was the latest resident of Gotham to join Batman's Rogues Gallery; declaring himself 'Chronos', Cronan basically had copied the clock and time motifs of Temple Fugit, the former 'Clock King', and began a spree of crime across the city avoiding security systems and the cops by speeding up or slowing down time.

Carefully, Terry reached out and pressed a series of buttons on the control panel, muttering, "At least it still has power... whatever happened..."

The Old Man had figured out that Chronos was using technology that could only have come from STAR Labs, but had an unstable element as a power source that would soon need replacing, and so he sent Terry to stake out their Gotham lab as Batman. As usual, the Old Man was proven right when Cronan made an appearance to steal a new power source, Terry had stopped him from succeeding, but that had led to a chase across Gotham as Cronan used his time-manipulation technology to try and out run the Batmobile, despite the fact that each use brought it closer and closer to the Xenothium power core going critical and possibly destroying half of Gotham when it did. With the Batcomputer back in the cave, the Old Man had tracked Cronan's movements and figured out where he'd return to the normal time flow next, directing Terry in the Batmobile to the location and allowing him to cut Cronan off. The next time 'Chronos' had came out of his time-warp, he found himself face to face with a floating Batmobile.

"Terry, be careful," the Old Man informed him, "If these readings are right, that Xenothium core won't survive another temporal incursion."

"What?"

"You can't let him use that device again or it could destroy the city," the Old Man simplified.

"Great," Terry muttered, "I'm missing Inque already."

"Just stop Cronan safely," was the order.

Switching on the outside speakers, Terry's voice echoed over the rooftop, "It's over, Cronan. The only time you need to worry about is what you have waiting for you in Gotham Jail. Take off the belt, lay it on the roof and step away and you can stay conscious for the ride to police headquarters."

As if to prove his point, the grappling hook launcher deployed and pointed itself at Cronan. Scowling, Cronan reached for his belt, at first looking as though he were going to unlatch it and do as instructed, but instead his hand suddenly darted to the side where the controls for the time-manipulation systems were located.

"Don't do it, Cronan," Terry shouted over the speakers, "The Xenothium is too unstable now!"

"If you want to stop me, Batman, you'll have to come out of your shell," Chronos taunted before he activated the controls.

Then everything went wrong. There had been a bright light and a shockwave, Terry could remember hearing the Old Man's voice shouting for him to get out of there and the sensation of being thrown and slammed against the restraints in the Batmobile, and then nothing until he had woke up upside down.

Tapping a button on the communications panel, Terry bit back a groan, "I'm a little beat up, but okay."

There was no answer and Terry tried again, "Wayne, do you read me?"

Again, no answer and again he tried, "Batmobile to Batcave, respond."

Terry did groan this time, "Maybe the communications system's busted. First thing I need to do is get the car righted, I guess."

Curling up his legs and putting his feet against the front window as best as he could, Terry put one hand on the roof of the car and used the other to hit the restraint release, allowing him to land a perfect three-point on hand and knees before he reached up to the floor and opened the bottom hatch so that he could climb out. Standing on the bottom of the inverted Batmobile, Terry paused to take a look around.

"Looks like the old part of town, but newer," Terry muttered, "Too new... What happened when that Xenothium went?"

Shaking his head, Terry dropped to the ground and walked around to the front of the Batmobile, using the front fins as handles so that he could use the suit's augmented strength to flip it right-side up again.

Giving the car a semi-affectionate pat, Terry sighed, "Now I just need to find out where I am and what's going on."

Terry got his first hint of what was going on when he heard a voice shouting from around the corner down at the end of the street, the words it was roaring plainly audible with the enhanced pickups of the suit's systems...

"Look! I am Bane! I am the king of Gotham City!"

Then it was followed by a howl triumphant, a howl that Terry knew he didn't like the sound of, causing him to swear silently to himself. Twisting the control on his utility belt to engage the suit's optical camoflauge, he took off running through the streets of Gotham...


End file.
